Faculty member and students light and learn

The Lights and Luminaries festival will be held in downtown Dillsboro, Dec. 13-14. Helping Dillsboro glow for the town’s annual Lights and Luminaries festival are Carroll Brown, an associate professor in the hospitality and tourism program at Western Carolina University, and her students. For the last five years, they have helped light more than 2,500 candles, placed luminaries in designated locations and assisted with decorations and lights.

Brown described the ongoing relationship with her students and the town of Dillsboro, which has grown out of the Lights and Luminaries festival, as mutually beneficial. Merchants appreciate the help, and students in her festival and special events course learn from and enjoy the experience.

“The event helps my students get into the Christmas spirit, and many of them bring their parents, which helps the merchants in Dillsboro,” she said.